You Can No Longer Bet On Clayton Kershaw To Win the NL Cy Young

Kershaw, who has a 16-3 record and 1.73 ERA with 194 strikeouts despite missing the first month of the season with an injury, is so far ahead of the field the online gambling destination decided it’s best not to take any Kershaw bets at all — even at something ridiculous like 1/100.

Kershaw, who also leads all players with 7.0 bWAR, still had competition for the Cy Young as recently as a month ago. But longshots Johnny Cueto and Adam Wainwright have fallen off a bit over the past month, while Kershaw just keeps pitching better.

In fact, the biggest challenge to Kershaw for the Cy Young at this point is probably the red-hot Cole Hamels. But Hamels’ paltry eight wins and the sorry state of the Phillies make the chances of Hamels edging out Kersahw so remote that, well, you can no longer even put money on Kershaw winning the award.

You can, however, bet on Kershaw to win the National League MVP. He’s 2/3 with Giancarlo Stanton at 6/5 and Andrew McCutchen at 10/1. (BTW, we think we are going to put some money down on McCutchen.)

Speaking of Trout, we’re starting to think the Angels center fielder’s amazing early career pace is beginning to obscure Kershaw’s greatness. The other young superstar of LA is now in his seventh season, although he’s only 26, and sports the second highest ERA+ among starting pitchers in Major League history, trailing only Pedro Martinez.

ERA+ takes into a account era and park factors, so it neutralizes any advantage Kershaw might have pitching in the cavernous Chavez Ravine, and in an era of rapidly declining offense. The Claw is already among the greatest to ever pitch, and his Vegas-stamped-as-inevitable third Cy Young will just help cement that point home.